A Simple Twist of Fate
by acciohol
Summary: Hermione returns to England after working around the world for the Ministry. She has been running away from her true emotions by distracting herself with her work and avoiding the people she went through the war with. Will she be able to face her demons and find true love along the way?
1. Home

**A/N: Hello, this is my first ever story so please be kind! Criticisms will be welcomed and suggestion what you want to happen in future chapters will be greatly appreciated! **

**The title is taken from my favourite Bob Dylan song so have a listen to that too, happy reading! **

Hermione was sipping her latte in the lazy afternoon sun of Paris. She wondered where the last three years of her life had disappeared too as her work was finally done. After her break up from Ron, just a few months after the war had ended, she wanted to avoid the public eye so had been travelling around the world working for the ministry. Integrating muggle technology into the wizarding world would never have been an easy task - they were still using quills in the 21st century - but her mission was complete. This time tomorrow she would be at the Potter residence, staying there while she searched for a house.

Shifting from her seat as she realised her portkey would be leaving in an hour, Hermione soaked in a few last glances of Paris as she headed back to her apartment. She was excited to return to England but a bubble of anxiety filled her stomach. The last time she was in England, several months ago, was for Harry and Ginny's wedding, it was a wonderful occasion. However, the memory was tainted in her mind as she had woken up next to Ron the next morning, mortified and embarrassed. A string of brief holiday romances had ensured she was over Ron, but would she be completely emotionally detached from the man she lost her 'virtues' too? She did not know.

She arrived back at her ministry owned apartment, realising this would be the end of the life she had been living for the past three years. Sighing, she sat down on the sofa, she had changed in the past 3 years, she was less uptight and more relaxed. As with most of her friends, they had grown up so fast during the war that they just wanted to feel like normal teenagers. With another sigh, she gathered her things and went the her portkey, a silver comb, that was lying on the coffee table. Within the blink of an eye, she landed with a thud in Godric's Hollow, outside the Potter residence. Floating her baggage behind her, she knocked on the front door.

"She's here!" Ginny's muffled shout came from behind the door, which had suddenly swung open in front of her. Hermione was almost knocked over from the force of Ginny's hug, "I have missed you so much Hermione, I'm so glad you are back for good now."

"I missed you too, Gin" Hermione replied, taking note of her friend's now protruding stomach, "We can finally go baby shopping now!" Hermione squeaked in excitement, as her and Ginny parted from their hug. Ginny ushered her into the house and used her wand to send Hermione's bags into the guest bedroom. Upon walking into the living room, Hermione was embraced in a brotherly hug from Harry before he spoke.

"We're glad to have you back, Hermione." He smiled at her, she noticed her looked tired, but what could be expected from an Auror, with a pregnant wife, and a toddler running about.

"I'm glad to be back." She grinned, sitting down on the armchair, "Where is Teddy? I thought he might be here to see me home." She continued, scanning for any clues to where the toddler may be. Whenever she had returned to England during the past three years, she had always spent time with Teddy. After his parents had died during the war, Andromeda had cared for him until Harry and Ginny had taken him in when they had acquired steady jobs and a large house. Hermione felt as if Teddy was her nephew and treated him as such with numerous presents from the places she had been.

"He is at Andromeda's today, though he should be back soon" Ginny announced walking back into the room with three cups of tea, placing them on the coffee table. She sat down next to Harry and pecked him on the lips before finding a comfortable position nuzzled up against her husband. Hermione had to admit that she had never seen two people so in love as Harry and Ginny, not even her own parents. The way they looked at each other said more that a thousand words could, the had a strong level of trust within each other that was not often found in modern day couples.

Hermione rose from her seat to leave them at peace together, "I'm going to unpack and have a shower" she spoke before grabbing her mug of tea and retreating upstairs after seeing Harry's smile of response.

Once in safety of her current bedroom, she quickly undressed and hopped in the shower. She let out a small moan as the water caressed her body and melted all her troubles away, her nerves of seeing Ron, finding a place to live and starting this new section of her life had completely disappeared once she exited the shower cubicle. Stepping out of her en suite and wrapping herself in a towel, she took her first proper look at the room she would be inhabiting. It was perfect size for a guest bedroom, with a double bed pressed up against the feature wall, a cool shade of blue which contrasted against the three remaining white walls. Other than the bed, there was a large wardrobe, a chest of drawers, and a beautiful dressing table. Above the dressing table was the only window in her room, this room was located at the front of the house which she enjoyed as she could see the comings and goings of the street.

Searching through her luggage she found some suitable lounge clothes and changed into them. Looking into the mirror of her dresser she dried her hair with her wand and then cast another spell which tamed her wild frizzy curls into sleek presentable ones. Shocked when out of the silence, she thought heard a car pull up outside the house, she peered out the window and confirmed her suspicions. Outside the house, there was a large black car with tinted windows. Curious, she set off downstairs.

"Aunt Hermione, you're home!" Teddy's four year old voice screeched as she was no further than half way down the stairs. The young boy attached himself to Hermione so quickly, that she had failed to see the white haired man that had walked in behind him. "I missed you so much, Aunty 'Mione! I was sad because you missed my birthday party," Teddy leaned in closer, "You are my favourite Aunt." He whispered in her ear. As she put the boy down, she had to do a double take as she saw Draco Malfoy stood in the hallway, looking at her with an expression she had never before seen on his face. A heavy silence hung in the air.

"You remember Draco, right Hermione?" Harry broke the silence as he appeared at the living room door. Hermione had only seen Draco a couple of times since the war had finished. She had seen glances of him in Diagon Alley, then most recently at Harry and Ginny's wedding. Despite this, she had never been this close to him without multiple wizards surrounding them or even held a proper conversation with him.

"Of course I remember him Harry" she said and she turned to Draco now, "Nice to see you again." She finished with a shy smile. He looked different now, the years had treated him kindly. She thought that he looked taller and broader, and his face was kinder now, not covered with his trademark smirk or snarl, but filled with a genuine smile. His white hair was longer than at school and messy as it slightly fell over his eyes, which were still a stormy grey. Although some things hadn't changed as he was, as always, dressed in dark clothing that barely differentiated from black and tones of grey, she wondered if his personality had changed too.

"It was a pleasure so see you again too, I better be going now" he spoke softly before turning to Harry, "Are we still on for tomorrow?" She was now snapped back to reality, she had been checking out Draco Malfoy.

"Yes, I'll meet you at five." Harry replied.

"I'll see you then" Draco ruffled Teddy's hair and smiled before leaving, closing the door behind him. Hermione was still in thoughtful state for a few moments after he had left. She had known without the spying of him and his mother, along with that of Snape, they would probably have never won to war; he had risked his and his family's lives to fight for good after years of being brought up on the wrong side. While she had been away, most of her friends had seem to have developed a close relationship with him as most of his 'friends' from Hogwarts, aside from Blaise who had also fought for the order, saw him as a traitor.

She was snapped from her thoughts by Ginny, with a large sly gin spread across her face, she was holding Teddy now and almost sitting him on her bump, "He is single, you know" she winked. "On second thoughts, he hasn't mentioned anyone since I set him up with Alice over two years ago, and she told me that dessert was amazing" Ginny winked again, speaking in this code was her way to make sure Teddy didn't know what they were talking about.

"I'm not interested in him Ginny, he bullied me in school if you remember correctly" Hermione blushed, "Even if I was interested, he wouldn't be seen dead with me, I'm sure." Hermione was still trying to hide her embarrassment.

"But your eyes tell a totally different story." Ginny grinned as she walk toward the kitchen now, her husband followed her, he had been leaning against the door frame listening to their conversation while smiling as widely as his wife. "Dinner will be ready soon!" Ginny shouted as Hermione finished making her way down the stairs and sat the dinner table.

Her evening was spent with the family, conversing about her visit to Paris before giving Teddy his belated birthday gift. After dinner they had all settled in the sitting room and were watching muggle movie How To Train Your Dragon, much to Teddy's enjoyment. Once the film had finished, Hermione set Teddy to bed and went to bed herself, today's evens had tired her out. She fell asleep thinking of the weeks to come.


	2. Drunk

**A/N - Here's my second chapter, trying to get these out as fast as I can! Thankyou to everyone that has already followed and favourited. Also, a big thankyou to 'Tihira' for my first ever review!**

**Got a really good idea where I want this to go now, enjoy!**

Hermione woke with a start, she had been having more nightmares than usual since she had returned to England. In her own opinion, they weren't nightmares, they were just memories replaying in her head while she slept. She had been living with the Potter's for just over a week now, the ministry had given her a large amount of time off to settle back into England so she had spent most her week with Ginny, who had quit playing Quidditch upon finding she was pregnant. Groaning as she rolled over to check the alarm clock, she noted it was just past 8 AM before she bolted upright at the sound of her door being flung open.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Hermione, happy birthday to you!" Harry, Ginny and Teddy all chimed in unison. Hermione was confronted with a large chocolate cake with 23 candles blazing; a look of happiness and surprise had covered her face. After she had blown out all of her candles, Teddy climbed onto the bed with 2 brightly wrapped presents and an envelope.

"Aunt Hermione, open this one first please, it's from me!" he said forcing a rectangle parcel into her hands. She tore the paper away, revealing a wizard picture of her and Teddy hugging at his 3rd birthday party. Embracing Teddy in a big hug and pulling him into her lap, she released him to proudly place the picture on the bedside table.

"Thankyou so much Teddy, would you like to help me open Harry and Ginny's present?" She asked before Teddy's eyes grew larger and he helped her unwrap the present. Ginny was already grinning down at Hermione when she shot her a curious glance. Laying with shards of torn wrapping paper was a little black dress, it was strapless, fitted and looked like it would show just the right amount of skin for Hermione's liking.

Hermione was just about to speak when she was interrupted by Ginny, "Open the card Hermione." Hermione shut her slightly ajar mouth and reach over Teddy for the envelope. Before she could read the card, a ticket slipped out, as she read it her eyes grew wide in a happy shock. Harry and Ginny had booked her a VIP booth at London's hottest nightclub.

"Thankyou so much you two!" She squeaked, as she leapt out of bed, careful not to knock Teddy over, and pulled them into a hug. "You are coming with me, right?" She looked at the pair with questioning eyes.

"I'm not coming 'Mione, you are going to have a night out with all the girls, I don't think I'd fit in." Harry smiled. "Luna, Hannah and Cho will meet you here at 8, and the Patil twins will be waiting at the club by 9, and Ange will meet you at the club if she feels up to it, but Roxanne has been keeping her up most nights." Harry now picked up Teddy and smiled as her left the room, despite Teddy's protests.

Hermione could tell that Harry had left her and Ginny alone together for a reason. Since she had arrived Ginny had been trying to set her up with Malfoy or any wizard she would even mention. Before she could even finish her thoughts, Ginny had interrupted her, "Is there any else I could get you for your birthday? Some earrings? Another cake? A date with a certain blonde wizard?" She said the last part of her sentence as quick as possible, trying to hold her smirk in.

"I've only seen him once since I've come back, and it's not like Malfoy would want to anyway!" Hermione quickly retorted.

"That's not what I heard." Ginny smirked.

"Pardon?" The work had come so fast out of Hermione's mouth, it seemed like a reflex.

"Well, my husband and Draco have at least one thing in common, Quidditch. They both go to all the Chudley Cannons games together, a couple of butterbeers and few questions later Harry had managed to find out Draco is actually quite attracted to you." Ginny's smirk grew wider at Hermione's blush. This is the thing about Ginny, she knew everything, if she didn't know something it wasn't worth knowing. She played cupid and quite often gave her girls good matches, Hermione remembered Ginny had managed to get 3 of her Quidditch team mates married in 2 years. Hermione was speechless.

"Just think about it" Ginny winked as she left Hermione to her own thoughts.

Her birthday had travelled by quickly, after the mornings events, she had gotten ready and spent a large portion of her day visiting her parents. She had missed them but figured that if she had moved back in with them, it would have drove her mad after 3 years of total freedom. Ginny had obviously to her parents about the nights celebration as her parents had gotten her a black bag which perfectly matched the dress she had received earlier. Her second present was a gorgeous pair of pearl earrings that she would definitely wear later.

She had returned to the Potter residence just before 8, being a witch meant it never took long to get ready. Less than 5 minutes after returning, she was out of the shower and sifting through her underwear drawer for her best pair of black underwear to go under her dress. It was her birthday and her first girls night out in years, if she attracted some male attention she wanted the chance to peruse it. Quickly, she cast a spell on her hair which left it dry and in neat curls with one side clipped back. She slipped into her dress before finding her favourite black heels and putting her wand in her clutch bag. Turning around, she checked herself over in the floor length mirror, this was the first time she had gotten properly dressed up since she first left England, she looked better than she had expected.

Caught out of her trance by the sound of heels against the laminate floors downstairs, she slipped in her pearl earrings and departed from her room. Walking down the stairs, she could hear her girls muffled gossip as she almost bubbled over in happiness. The only thing that made her regret taking her job was the separation from her friends, but now they were all together, like she had never been away.

"You girls all look gorgeous!" She spoke as she entered the living room. Ginny, Cho, Luna and Hannah all turned to face Hermione before squeaking and pulling her into a massive group hug. They all wished her happy birthday and commented on how 'stunning' she looked as they passed her presents and Ginny pulled out a bottle of fire whiskey for pre drinks. Ginny being pregnant was in charge of alcohol for the evening so no one would drink too much, and be sick.

"Ange apologises for not being able to come tonight but we are going shopping with her on Monday, if that's okay?" Ginny said while pouring for all the girls.

"That sounds wonderful, I hope a day will be enough to recover me from the hangover I will get from tonight!" Hermione joked, sipping from her glass and then wincing a little. A couple of glasses later and the girls were getting ready to apparate to an alley behind the club where the twins would be waiting.

A second later, Hermione was embraced by Padma and Pavarti, both giggling as they wished her a happy birthday while being joined by the rest of the girls. The group of girls, all gossiping and laughing walked to the front of the queue, VIP tickets in hand, and after moderate flirting with the bouncers were inside the packed club.

"This is amazing!" Hannah shrieked, being landlady of the leaky cauldron, she never really had an opportunity to be on the other side of the bar. Although, Hermione completely agreed with her, the music was pulsating through her body and all she wanted to do was dance. A good looking barman showed them too their booth and brought in a free round of drinks, Hermione suggested vodka and coke for all the girls as she was unsure if they had ever been to a muggle club before. The drinks arrived and the gossip began.

After 4 drinks, Hermione was filled in on everything that had happened in the wizarding world over the past 3 years, and the alcohol was starting to go to her head. She had been drinking at a much faster pace than all of the other girls. She wanted to dance.

"Come on girls, lets get on the dance floor!" Hermione shouted over the music, she had grabbed Luna's arm and dragged her in the middle of the dance floor and they started dancing.

"Hermione, are you sure you aren't a bit drunk to dance?" Luna asked, in her usual dreamy voice.

"No, I don't think I've drunk enough!" Hermione half screamed, "I want this to be a night I will never forget!" At this thought, Hermione went to the bar and ordered 5 shots, and in a matter of seconds they were all gone, she wanted to be happy. Trying to convince herself, she walked as soberly as possible back towards her friends as they all danced. Hermione danced for what felt like hours, but it could have been minutes. In these moments she felt the weight of the world lift off her shoulders, like she was a normal 23 year old.

She was stopped by Ginny's tired voice, "Hermione, I think it's time to get you home." She said in a stern tone as she pulled Hermione away from the dance floor.

"But it's too early!" Hermione drunkenly protested, now she had stopped dancing, she had realised how drunk she truly was, she could barely stand up.

"It's 3 in the morning you idiot, we've been here for hours!" Parvati laughed at a confused Hermione, "My sister and Luna have gone gallivanting off with men and poor Ginny here is half asleep!" They pulled Hermione to the doorway, Cho and Hannah not far behind. Hermione tried to recall how much she had drunk when she fell down the front steps of the club and landed with a crack and a sharp pain in her leg.

"Fuck, that hurts!" She shouted as the sound around her seemed muffled and distant.

"Shit!" Ginny gasped, "We need to go to St. Mungo's, you guys follow along" Hermione heard Hannah's muffled voice and then felt the horrible sickly feeling of side along apparation.

Hermione was in a dazed trance. 5 minutes later, when her mind had gotten over the shock of her fall, she was sat up in a hospital bed surrounded by her laughing friends, she was staring down at her shin bone, which had punctured her skin and was sticking about an inch out of her left leg.

"This would only happen to me!" She groaned, much to the amusement of her friends.

"You still look beautiful from the knees up!" Cho laughed, setting off Parvati, Hannah, and Ginny off into hysterics. Hermione's still drunken mind made her laugh with them, they were all laughing so much, that they didn't notice the door swing open or the man who had walked in.

"Ginny, I'm not sure that much laughing can be good for the baby." Draco spoke, smiling, as the girls finished off their laughs, "What would you five girls be doing here at half three in the morning?" He asked smiling still.

"It's Hermione's birthday, she is so drunk, and she fell down the stairs, and she broke her leg!" Hannah said in between laughs, almost running out of air.

"But it's okay, because I still look good from the knees up!" Hermione finished, sending all the girls into hysterics again, she even got a chuckle from Malfoy.

"Alright girls, can I ask you to take it outside so I can sort Hermione out?" He asked as the laugher died down.

"Oh, you can sort her out." Ginny winked as she and the rest of the girls left the room. Hermione blushed, and she swore Draco did too. An awkward silence hung in the air as she remembered how attractive he was, her heart skipped a beat as he touched her afflicted leg.

"I never knew you were a healer." Hermione slurred, trying to break the silence.

"I never knew you drank alcohol." Draco replied, smiling at her, and she couldn't help but smile back as her heart fluttered. "I'll be able to fix this, you'll be able to go home tonight, but uh.. Hermione, I just want to take this chance to apologise to you for everything that happened at Hogwarts. I've apologised to everyone else, but how I treated muggle borns, and you in particular is what I most regret." He was looking down to the floor, ashamed. She took a minute to reply, still in shock at how good her name sounded coming from his mouth.

"I accept your apology, and I'm sorry for breaking your nose." She smirked at him, as his face lit up.

"That really hurt!" he laughed, "I'll fix up your leg now, I think this might hurt, so you should hold onto something." Bending back down to her leg, he muttered a spell as the bone slotted back into place and Hermione moaned. He ignored the chill sent down his spine at her moan and stood up. He went to the door and motioned the girls to come back inside.

"Ginny, can I speak to you for a moment?" he said, pulling her aside. "She can go home tonight, but keep the leg elevated for the rest of the weekend then she'll be fine"

Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted but Hermione's loud slur coming from inside the room, "Cho, he's so hot and I'm a drunken mess, I'm so embarrassing." Hermione groaned, "Why is he so nice? I wouldn't even like him if he wasn't nice."

Ginny smirked at the total look of shock on Draco's face, "I told you she likes you, I'm not blind when it comes to these things." His features softened at her words.

"I'll think about it Gin, I don't think she'll like me after a date, but I'll think about it" He smiled, "You can take her home now." With that, he turned away to work on his next patient.

Ginny apparated Hermione home after they both wished goodnight to the other girls. Hermione thought her birthday could have gone worse, as she drifted into a deep sleep.


	3. Questions

**A/N - Trying to get chapters out as soon as I can, enjoy!**

Hermione couldn't wait to get out of bed, her Sunday had been spend nursing her hangover and resting her leg in bed while reading a collection of her favourite muggle books. As much as she loved reading, she didn't like to be confined to such a small space and couldn't wait for her shopping trip to Diagon Alley with Ange and Ginny. She was in much need of a new winter wardrobe and wanted to treat Teddy in Quality Quidditch Supplies and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and of course, buy herself a new book or two.

She flicked her legs over the side of the bed, putting a little pressure on her healed leg just to test it. Once she had given herself the all clear, she sauntered into her en suite and clambered into the shower, washing the last traces of her hangover away. She didn't remember much after her fall, but she remembered him. All shower long she thought of his grey eyes piercing hers, and the way his hair fell in front of them. He looked so simply attractive in his work outfit, all covered up, making you want to know what was underneath.

Hermione turned the knob on the shower, she slipped a towel round her and tried to clear her mind. Still wrapped in a towel, she picked out her outfit for the day, a grey day dress with woollen tights and a black cardigan, that would suit the chilly September morning. Casting the normal charms over her hair, she dressed herself, finishing her look with a grey hat, scarf and gloves set.

"Hermione, are you nearly ready to go?" Ginny's voice called up the stairs, as she left her room.

"Yeah, Aunty 'Mione! We are waiting for you!" Teddy said when his mother had finished, "I made you some toast for breakfast." He grinned as her handed Hermione the toast when she reached the bottom stair. Hermione gobbled down the toast, and ruffled his hair which turned a lovely shade of pink at her touch.

"I'm taking Teddy by floo, but you can apparate if you want?" Ginny said, holding Teddy's hand.

"No, I'll floo with you two" Hermione smiled. They walked into the living room, Ginny lifted Teddy into the fireplace before getting in herself and sending them to Diagon Alley. Hermione followed them soon after.

Angelina was sat outside the Rosa Lee teashop on a small table with just enough chairs. Oblivious to the havoc that was going on in the street around her, she stared lovingly into the pram she was rocking back and fourth. As the three approached the table, Ange's head shot up and smiled widely at Hermione.

"It's good to see you!" she said as Hermione bent down to hug Angelina in her seat.

Hermione snuck a peek into the pram and saw a beautiful little baby staring back at her, "It's great to see you too Ange, and Merlin, she is beautiful! Good job she has an older brother to keep the boys away!"

"Don't tell George that, he'll have a heart attack even thinking of her having a boyfriend!" Ange joked, "She is the apple of his eye!" She tickled her daughters stomach.

"Why would he want to keep the boys away?" Teddy questioned, "Ginny and Aunty Ange both have boys and they are very happy, why shouldn't Roxanne be happy?"

"Teddy, sweetheart, me and Ange have men, adults can make each other very happy, but when you are boys and girls, you are more likely to hurt and upset each other. Sometimes boys and girl can be very happy together and they become adults together, like me and Harry." Ginny explained to him.

"Is that why Aunt Hermione went away then? Because Uncle Ron is still a boy and he hurt her?" Teddy looked up at Ginny. Hermione expected to feel something at the reminder of the now distant break up, but she felt nothing.

In the infinite silence that hung in the air, she remembered the night of their break up. He had found another woman, but Hermione didn't argue with him, she left without another word. Since the end of the war, what they once had, had run dry. There was no spark anymore. Hermione had tried to get herself to leave him, but she didn't know what to do. He was the only boy she had ever known, ever liked. When he ended it, she did everything she had been waiting to do.

"Ron and I both hurt each other, we weren't right for each other so we couldn't grow up together, like Harry and Ginny could. You will understand when you are older Teddy." Hermione broke the silence, she could hardly believe that Teddy had made Ginny speechless. Ange started up another conversation to lighten the mood, she was talking about how Fred and Teddy should get together for a play date soon and other various baby details.

After a pot of tea and a good catch up, they stood up and got ready to start their day of shopping.

"I think I'm going to take Teddy for a look around, coming baby shopping would just remind me of how single and alone I am." Hermione half joked.

"Not for long." Ginny winked.

"What do you mean?" Hermione looked confused at her friend.

"Do you not remember? What you were saying at the hospital?" Ginny smirked. Hermione's look of confusion answered Ginny's question for her. "Draco and I were talking just outside your room and we may have overheard you going on to Cho about how attractive you find him. I told him to ask you out, and he said he'll think about it." Ginny finished.

Hermione blushed furiously, "You are joking, right?" Ginny's look told her that she was telling the truth. Hermione groaned and finished, "I'm just going to take Teddy around, I'll meet you back here at 3." She held Teddy's hand and begged he didn't say anything as they walked away, but he did.

"Are you and Uncle Draco going to get married and be happy adults?" Teddy smiled from ear to ear, "You two are my favourite Aunt and Uncle!"

"That is certainly what Ginny wants Teddy, but I'll buy you whatever you want from Uncle George's shop if you promise not to tell anyone!"

"I promise!" Teddy almost screamed as the two continued to walk down the busy street.

An hour and several shops later, Hermione and Teddy were sat finishing off their ice creams from Florean Fortescue's and getting ready to walk to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Hermione had bought a couple of new outfits; a couple of quidditch books for Teddy; and a large number of sweets to say thankyou to the Potter's for letting her stay.

Hermione and Teddy walked through the crowd towards their destination, they turned a corner, suddenly Hermione was knocked off her feet, pulling Teddy down with her. Not even looking at what pushed her over, she stood up and picked Teddy up and held him to her chest, "Are you okay Teddy?" she asked, and Teddy nodded his head.

"I'm a big boy now, aren't I Uncle Ron?" He hopefully asked his Uncle, who had become shy all of a sudden. Hermione took a step back when she realised who was stood next to her.

"Yeah, you are mate." Ron smiled at Teddy, avoiding any eye contact with Hermione. He looked tired, but he was exactly as Hermione remembered, not much ever changed with Ron. He was still good looking but Hermione just wasn't attracted to him, she could feel the nervous pit in her stomach as she remembered the last time they were together.

"How are you, Ronald?" She inquired, trying to distract herself from her nerves.

"I... I guess I'm okay, how are you?" He managed to put some words together.

"I'm great actually, feeling better than ever now I'm home." She exaggerated, even though he seemed more nervous than she was, she wanted to keep up her confident front. "We were just going to George's, we better be going. We have to meet your sister soon." Hermione kept a neutral expression.

"I'll come with you, I work with him now, so I can show you some of the new stuff." Ron interjected.

"Can you really Uncle Ron?" Teddy exclaimed, this meant Hermione had to put up with Ron for a little bit longer to keep Teddy happy, but so be it.

They walked to the shop, and entered. Hermione remained silent as Ron showed Teddy around, telling him what everything was and even showing him how some things worked. Teddy's expression was priceless, he looked as if he would burst with excitement. After Ron had finished the tour, Teddy ran off to get whatever he wanted and left Ron and Hermione alone.

Ron turned to her, with a sorrowful expression in his eyes, "I've missed you. I couldn't stop thinking about you since what happened at the wedding. You know, the uh... sex. It was so good, you have really changed." He looked down at the ground. "Would you ever want to try again, like me and you?"

Hermione didn't know how to feel. She felt sorry for him, she was his first love as much as he was hers. She was confused, although she enjoyed the times they had spent together, she didn't want him back at all. Finally, she was angry, just because she had given him enjoyment he wanted her back and assumed she had changed, would he have cared if she hadn't of slept with him?

"No, Ron." Hermione started, "I don't want to try again, we were good together once but we both have changed and as for 'good sex' you only gave me good sex a handful of times during our relationship!" She said sternly in a hushed tone, the look on his face told her that he knew what she meant. Instantaneously, she stalked off to find Teddy. She bought Teddy his gift of choice and they left the shop.

"I'm sorry we had to leave that quickly Teddy, your Uncle Ron never fails to get me worked up." Hermione smiled, Teddy was skipping along and didn't really seem to care. Ginny didn't really let Teddy have Weasley products in the house, she must of had so much of it growing up that she could live another lifetime without it. They had to meet Ange and Ginny in 10 minutes, which gave them the perfect amount of time for a look around Flourish and Blotts.

Hermione ushered Teddy in the door, away from the chilly breeze. "Go and look at the children's books, and don't open your present in here, or we will get in trouble." Teddy smiled up at her and ran off to find a good book. All at once, the beautiful smell of books entered her nostrils, she wandered around the shop looking for the right section. In a couple of weeks time, she would be joining the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, working with Misuse of Muggle Artefacts, so naturally she wanted to read everything she could about it.

Five minutes later, with a stack of books in her arms, she headed to the children's section only to find Teddy with a now familiar face. Teddy had turned his hair white blonde, obviously in appreciation to the wizard he was with, they were both sat at a table, Teddy in Draco's lap, reading a book.

Hermione arrived at the table, "Are you two having fun?" She startled them as she sat down at the table. "That hair colour suits you Teddy, you should keep it." She smiled at the young boy.

"I have it when Uncle Draco is around because we match and he is family. My mummy was his cousin!" Teddy said, he was never sad when he spoke about his parents, he never knew life with them, he was always happy because everyone had told him stories of his parents' greatness and how much they loved him. "I was just telling Uncle Draco how Uncle Ron made you mad so we have to get books to calm you down, Ginny says books are the only thing that can calm you down."

"Oh does she now?" Hermione smirked, planning to make fun of Ginny later.

Teddy leaned in close in Hermione, "But I didn't tell Uncle Draco our secret." He whispered, but loud enough for Draco to hear. Draco's eyebrows shot up as Hermione put her face in her hands.

"What secret would this be then Teddy?" Draco asked, almost chuckling.

"Well, you can't tell the secret to who it's about because then it wouldn't be secret!" Teddy said, as if he hadn't given anything away.

"So it's about me then?" Draco questioned, trying not to laugh at Hermione who was staring at Teddy trying to get him to stop, but Teddy hadn't noticed.

"Yeah, but I can't tell you because Hermione bought me something from Uncle George's so I would promise not too." Teddy finished.

Draco was about to speak but was interrupted by Hermione, "Teddy, we better be going now, or we'll be very late, did you pick a book?" Teddy pointed to the one him and Draco had been reading, and Hermione went to pick it up before Draco stopped her.

"I'll get him this, I've not gotten him a present in a while." Draco put Teddy down as he stood up from his chair, so he was now looking down at Hermione. They started walking over to the till.

"Are you sure? I have enough money to get it" Hermione looked at him, while paying for her books.

"I'm sure." He spoke as he handed the cashier the book and paid. They left the shop and Draco decided to walk them too the Leaky Cauldron, where they were meeting the other two girls.

"Why did you split up from them? I thought you would've enjoyed some baby shopping." Draco broke the small silence.

"I just didn't feel like it, Ginny and Ange are so much further ahead in life than me and I didn't want to be reminded of that." Hermione was being honest for reasons unknown to her.

"I wouldn't say that, how many people our age have travelled around the world?" He continued.

"I guess, it just feels like I've wasted a lot of my life, now I've come home and people are doing the important things." She smiled as they neared the pub.

"When you spend most of your time in a hospital, travelling around the world seems like a dream rather than a waste of time." He joked. Teddy pulled away from Hermione's grasp, and ran towards Ginny, who was smirking at them from a good distance away. As Teddy's got nearer to his mother, his hair transformed from white to the normal shade of dark brown.

"Thankyou, for getting Teddy that book, I better be going now." Hermione chimed as he passed her the book. He looked uneasy, like he was thinking of something that took away his natural confidence. Hermione smiled at him as she turned to leave.

"Hermione, wait" He caught her arm in his hand, "I was just wondering, er... If you'd like to come out on a date with me sometime?" Hermione's heart skipped a few beats while still managing to pound in her head, while he asked his question, his hand had slipped down and held hers. He looked hopefully between her eyes and the ground, like he had expected her to refuse, but how could she.

"Yes, that would be lovely" She couldn't stop herself from smiling, his whole body relaxed and he exhaled all the air he had in his lungs. She was surprised his confidence has disappeared for this moment, if the rumours round Hogwarts were true, he was meant to be a bit of a ladies man.

"Can I have your number then? I'll call you when I don't have a bad shift and we can go out for a proper dinner." He shyly smiled at her and she melted a little bit. She handed him her number.

"I'll see you soon then" She grinned at him as she turned to leave. Their hands slipped apart and she sighed.

"Yeah, I'll call you when I can" He waved.

After arriving back to her friends, Ginny gave her a knowing look before Hermione laughed and Teddy looked completely confused. Ange had headed back home, walking through muggle London. Ginny, Teddy and Hermione flooed home and after Ginny had left Teddy to play in the playroom, Hermione told her the whole story.


	4. Preparation

**A/N - I hope everyone likes this one, I'm trying to get all the relationships right. The next chapter will have Harry and Hermione having a heart to heart, I want to build their friendship and for them to help each other. Thankyou to everyone for following/favouriting/reviewing! Enjoy! **

September was drawing to a close, it had been a week since Draco had asked her out in Diagon Alley, but he hadn't yet called. She spend a good amount of time thinking whether he even had a phone, her travels had made it obvious to her that the wiazarding world was far behind on technology, and she couldn't imagine Draco having a phone after being brought up in his pureblood home. However, she finally reasoned with herself, if he asked for her number, he must have a phone.

She had hardly left the Potter's house all week, she spent most of her week reading and trying to get herself best prepared for her future career. Ginny had managed to persuade Hermione to help around the house and sort out clothes and other things for the rapidly approaching mini Potter. Ginny had some how got Hermione into painting the baby's room today. Ginny should have been a Slytherin.

She wouldn't have left the house at all if she weren't house hunting. In the past week, she had looked at three apartments and bought one which had taken her breath away from the first time she looked round. It was located just outside muggle London, but location never really mattered to a witch who could apparate anywhere. Her new apartment was all open plan, as you walked in the door, you were welcomed into a medium sized sitting room, which was connected to the kitchen with a large archway. The kitchen was small and practical for just one person to use, with just enough cupboards for Hermione to keep all of her food. Through a much smaller archway was the bedroom, about the same size as hers at Harry and Ginny's but had bookshelves from ceiling to floor on one wall, perfect for Hermione. On the adjacent wall to the bookshelves were two archways which lead to an en suite and a walk in closet. All the walls in the apartment were a brilliant white and the ceilings were all a perfect stormy grey. The floors were laminate, apart from in the bedroom, which had a shaggy carpet that matched the colour of the ceilings. She couldn't wait to move in, but didn't want to be on her own again.

Hermione was changing into some old ruined clothes when her phone rang. Confused at first, she looked at the number, and realised it must be him.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hermione?" His calm voiced question on the other side.

"Yeah, it's me." She was smiling, even though he couldn't see her.

"Oh good, I thought you might have given me the wrong number." He chuckled, "I managed to get tonight off work, so I was wondering if you still wanted to go on that date?"

"That's sounds good to me!" She said, perhaps too keenly.

"I've booked us a table at this nice place in London, so dress up like you were on your birthday and I'll pick you up at 6." He replied.

"So you booked the table before you knew I would say yes?" She joked.

"Well, yes. But I think if you had said no, Ginny would have forced you to come anyway." She could feel his smirk radiating through the phone.

"Actually, speaking of Ginny, she going to kill me if I don't get this room painted so I better go." Hermione noticed the time, it was only 4 hours until he would pick her up.

"Have fun, I'll see you later." He spoke, Hermione couldn't comprehend how the voice that had once taunted her was now making her melt.

"I'll see you soon." She put the phone down and sighed, her heart beating out of her chest.

She couldn't help grinning from ear to ear as she entered the baby's room, Ginny was stood in the middle of the room, looking around with a paint brush in her hand. "I wondered when you would finally complete the long walk down the hallway." She said, dripping with sarcasm before turning to face Hermione, "What are you so bloody happy about?" She looked at Hermione confused.

"He called." She blurted out. Before she could blink, Ginny had thrown the paint brush down and was grabbing Hermione's shoulders.

"How much time do we have?" Ginny questioned, as if it was a matter of of life and death, staring straight into Hermione's eyes.

"4 hours." Hermione was baffled by her friend's behaviour.

"We will have just enough time, the baby's room can wait. Let's begin mission: first date." Ginny said, rather like an army general. "After I am done with you, you are going to take his breath away." She paused. "Not like you couldn't take his breath away dressed in a bin bag but you know what I mean." By the time Ginny had finished her sentence, she had grabbed Hermione's arm and was dragging her back down the hallway into the master bedroom she shared with Harry. Upon entering the room, she pushed Hermione toward the bed and ran into her bathroom, she turned the big taps on the bath so they were running full blast. Almost running back into the bedroom, she sat down next to Hermione on the bed.

"What is 'mission: first date' Ginny?" Hermione smirked, her eyebrows raised.

"Whenever I set one of my girls up, before the first date, I prepare them." Ginny seemed proud but embarrassed at the same time, if that was possible. "It works nearly all the time."

"So what is the plan then?" Hermione was relieved that she was going to get a full day of pampering, she felt like she needed it.

"First, is a bath, done the muggle way; then you cast all the glamour charms you want on yourself; after that we will pick out your dress and match it with shoes and a bag." Ginny paused for a millisecond for breath. "I'll do you a face mask and paint your nails, and you can have a quick nap, so you are refreshed. When I wake you up, you'll have a small healthy snack so you aren't too hungry. After that it's just the basics of getting ready but I am going to do your make up. And then a pep talk and you'll be on your way." Hermione couldn't tell if she was more surprised that Ginny had created this huge plan and that she could recite it all with only one breath in between. She laughed with Ginny as she went to stop the bath and let the plan commence.

Three hours later, Hermione was nearly ready for her date, who would be arriving in less than an hour. Even before Ginny had started her make up, she felt more beautiful than she had in years, like every part of her body was gleaming and it had built up her confidence. With Ginny putting the final touches to her make up, Hermione slipped on her dress and looked in the mirror. She hardly recognised herself. She was wearing a pale pastel pink dress, which was fitted to emphasise her curves, matched with a white bag and heels. Her curls were pulled back into a relaxed bun, with loose strands falling down and into her face. Finally, her make up was flawless, her lips defined in a slightly darker pink thank her dress, which drew more attention to her dark smokey eyes.

"Now for the pep talk" Ginny spoke, coming and standing next to Hermione. The doorbell rang downstairs, "Don't worry, Harry will get that."

"I'm so nervous Gin." Hermione almost stuttered.

"Just be yourself, and don't worry about a thing. He know I'll come after him if he does something wrong." She smiled, "Remember, he doesn't get under your dress, if you don't want him too. If you do want him too, go back to his, I am not explaining that to Teddy in the morning."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself Ginny!" Hermione was shocked at her friend for suggesting such a thing, "I'm playing hard to get with this one." She winked.

"You could be living out every Hogwarts girls' fantasy, the rumours that I heard about him!" Ginny giggled like she was a school girl again.

"We'll see" Hermione joined in giggling. When they had stopped, they both walked down stairs to see Harry talking to Draco in the hallway. Draco was dressed in a muted blue suit with a white shirt and matching tie, his hair looked as if it had been slightly more styled than previous meetings and he looked calm. She couldn't help but stare at him, she found every part of him attractive, he was a man and not the boy who she had once known.

Ginny cleared her throat to get their attention, and both men turned their heads. Harry glanced at Hermione and gave his wife a look that only those two could understand. However, Draco couldn't take his eyes off Hermione, she looked beautiful, everything about her was put together without flaws. He couldn't stop staring and neither could she.

"Is this okay for where we are going?" She asked shyly, after a short silence.

"Yes, it's perfect." He said, snapping out of his trance. He slowly walked over to her, and kissed her lightly on the cheek, "You look beautiful Hermione, I've brought some flowers for you." He almost whispered as he pulled away from her face and handed her the flowers, which she summoned a vase for.

He turned to Harry and Ginny, who were both smiling smugly and continued, "We better be going now, I'll bring her back safe so don't worry!" They walked to the door and opened it to leave.

Hermione was just about to step outside before Ginny said, "Hermione, remember what I told you!" Then finished her sentence with a wink. Hermione just smiled in response before closing the door behind her.

"What did she tell you?" Draco smirked.

"It's a secret." Hermione mimicked his smirk.

"Like Teddy's secret?" He raised his eyebrow, this had caught her slightly off guard.

"Well, yes. But I can not give this one away and Teddy's is slightly more embarrassing." Hermione blushed while remembering. "Where are we going anyway?" She changed the subject.

"You'll have to side apparate with me, is that okay?" He asked, and she nodded. She didn't like it but thought it would be the only way to keep his destination a surprise. He grasped her arm and she felt the uncomfortable pull of side along. She wondered why it felt so much worse than normal apparation.


	5. Date

**A/N - I have just split the date chapter in half because I didn't like it so long. Working on a new chapter now. **

When she was surrounded by the sound of London and she opened her eyes. "It's just up here." He pointed as they walked out of the quiet side street and he let go of her hand. They remained silent as they walked up the slightly busy street, until they reach a little restaurant by the name of 'La Bella Luna'.

"After you." He smiled to Hermione as he held the door open for her. It was only a small restaurant, but it's was absolutely beautiful, like they had transported to Italy. As the waiter showed them too their table, Draco put his hand on the base of Hermione's back, she had to keep herself together as chills radiated up her spine. Like a true gentleman, he pulled out her seat and helped her tuck into the table, then sat down himself.

"What happened to you?" She asked him when he finished talking to the waiter.

"I realised everything I had been brought up to believe was probably wrong and I had no right to treat people the way I did." He answered back immediately, like he already had expected the question. "I made some awful decisions, so now I need to try and right them, I owe it to the men who saved my life."

Hermione couldn't think of a suitable response, she was just expecting a sarcastic comment in return but he had been so brutally honest with her. The waiter had returned with a bottle of wine and poured it into two glasses, and with a nod from Draco walked away.

Draco took a sip and smiled, "This is my all time favourite wine, everything just blends together so nicely." He gazed at Hermione, "You can have anything off the menu, don't look at the price, I'm paying for everything."

"I can pay for myself, I don't want to put you out." she frowned, she didn't want to cost him a fortune.

"I asked you on a date so I will pay, you might not even want to be here." He smirked.

"But I do want to be here, and for all I know Ginny could have forced you to bring me out, just to get me out of the house." Hermione quipped back, trying to match him.

"Even if she did force me, a man still pays when he takes someone out, have you ever been on a date before?" He joked, but Hermione grew silent. She hadn't been on a date before.

"Well, actually I haven't been on a proper date before." She said shyly, so he almost couldn't hear. He looked at her as if he was waiting for her to start laughing, like it was a joke.

"You're serious? How can that be possible?" He asked, in some form of obvious shock.

"No one ever dated me properly, Viktor just followed me around the library, when I started with Ron we were on the run and after that no one asked me out." Hermione blushed, embarrassed by her lack of experience.

"I'll try and make this a memorable first first date then." He winked at her. Their conversation ended after being interrupted by the waiter and placing their orders. They had decided to skip getting starters and go straight to the mains, Draco would have a steak and Hermione had ordered a spaghetti bolognese.

All through the night, they talked and laughed together, it was almost as if they had never once been of opposite sides. They had finished their main courses long ago and were quickly devouring the last traces of dessert. Draco thought it would have been a good idea to feed each other the cheesecake they had ordered to share, but it hadn't worked so well. He had managed the get ice cream all over Hermione's left cheek and she had spilt some down his shirt.

"Do you want to go for a bit of a walk?" He asked after calling for the bill.

"Yeah, that would be great, I need to work off some of what I've just eaten!" Hermione joked. She watched him pay the bill - with muggle money - and was shocked to find him unconfused, like he had done it a million times before. They walked to the door as Hermione joked, "If you can do things the muggle way then the last last three years of my life haven't been wasted."

"It's actually quite easy!" He said as he held the door open for her, "I better help you down these steps so you don't break your leg." He smirked at her, and draped his suit jacket round her shoulders when they reached the bottom of the steps. At realising she was feeling quite drunk, Hermione paid extra attention not to embarrass herself.

After a moments silence she turned to him and questioned, "Can I ask you something?" She bit her lip.

"Yes, of course you can." He looked at her, slightly nervous.

"Is this a date because you feel guilty of how you treated me at school, or is this a date because you are actually interested?" She looked up at him hopefully.

A sigh of relief left his lips as he smiled, his eyes met hers and they looked into each other for a few prolonged seconds as he tucked strands of hair behind her ear. He leant down and entangled his lips with hers, it was firm but soft, she took a short time to respond as her heart rate raced at his action. Delicately, she placed her hands on his firm chest as his moved to her waist, their kiss deepened for a second before they broke apart. The perfect first kiss.

He removed his hands from around her waist and put one in his hair as he stepped back, "I'm sorry if you didn't want that, I just thought it was the best way to answer your question." A blush slightly crept onto his pale skin, "I shouldn't have done that." He almost whispered.

Before he could even start apologising, she had stepped forward and pulled his face down to meet hers, in a short but passionate kiss. When she released him, he looked back at her in a blissful state of shock, "You wanted me to kiss you?" he asked.

"Yes..." She grinned, "Where has your confidence with women gone? All the rumours round Hogwarts had you as a ladies man."

He just smiled back at her sheepishly and said, "I better get you back now, I have the morning shift and I'll need to sleep off this wine." She thought he may have been drunker than he appeared.

Finding a secluded street with no muggles, he apparated her back to the Potter's and retrieved his jacket from around her shoulders, putting it back on himself.

"We will do this again soon if you want too, I've actually had a really good time." He smiled at her, "I'll call you tomorrow to arrange something."

"I've had an amazing time too, the best first first date I could have asked for." She looked up at him, and they were kissing again. He pushed her slightly against the door, this kiss was much deeper and more passionate than before, his hands rested on her hips as Hermione's ran through his white hair. They broke apart and were silent for a few seconds.

"Goodnight Hermione." He whispered after he kissed her cheek. With that, he turned and walked up the pathway and apparated home. He knew how to leave a girl wanting more.


	6. Open

**A/N - I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated this story. I got bad AS level results so I was feeling down about it but your lovely reviews cheered me up! Please do review/follow/favourite this story because it keeps me going. I'm going to try and get out lots of shorter chapters rather than long ones. Please enjoy, I want to keep the romance realistic but things will be hotting up soon!**

Hermione was tired out and it was only 10 am. With the help of Harry, Neville and Dean she had moved every last box of her things into her new apartment. Ginny insisted on helping her, but Hermione had to refuse because Ginny was next to bursting with only 2 weeks of pregnancy left. The last thing she wanted was Ginny giving birth on the floor of her new apartment. Everyone else was working or taking care of children, and Draco hadn't called since their date, but that was only just over 24 hours ago. She insisted on making the boys brunch to thank them, she could have been at this for hours without them.

After brunch had finished, Neville and Dean departed, leaving Harry and Hermione alone together for the first time in years. Throughout the course of the day, Harry had noticed her checking her phone, so when she did it for the hundredth time, he spoke up.

"He is going to call you, you know that right?" He gave her an amused look.

"Maybe I don't want him to call me." She said sternly, meeting his eyes. She felt a fool that she had been caught out being hung up on a guy. "It was only one date, it's not like we did anything either."

"I'm not stupid Hermione." He chuckled, "I can see the way you look at him, I can see the way he looks at you."

Hermione blushed in response.

"You feel it, don't you?" He continued, "What I felt with Ginny. There's this person who has been staring you in the face for so long, and one day, you look at them and you just feel it. I'd never had a proper conversation with her when I first felt it, I must have been 12."

"It so confusing Harry." Hermione started to cry. Her head was buried in her hands as she sat down on the sofa which was pressed up against the wall. He sat down next to her and started the rub her back soothingly.

"I know, Hermione." He calmed her down.

"I look at him and I don't see him as a child, he's a completely different man. Then I remember the names he used to call me and what he did with the other side and it makes me want to not want to be around him but I still do." She spoke without thinking, without pausing because she needed to talk to someone. "When I close my eyes, I'm still on the floor of the manor screaming in pain. He had to watch that. If he sees my scars, it will bring back horrible memories for him. I can deal with myself but I don't want to put him through that."

"Hermione, I know for a fact that he has completely changed. If he wants to have you, he has to have everything that comes with you. If he can't handle it, we will sort it out. Just let yourself be happy, you deserve it." Hermione trusted everything Harry said.

There was a long silence that followed, it wasn't uncomfortable. It was just silence. Hermione always thought you could tell who you were truly comfortable with when a silence wasn't awkward between you. Hermione put her head on Harry's lap while he lightly rubbed her back.

"Sometimes, I wish we were just camping again. When it was just me and you, without Ronald. We didn't know what was going on in the outside world and we were at peace even with everything happening around us." Hermione broke the silence after her tears had stopped. "How did you do it, Harry? How did you move past the war? I can't do it."

"Hermione, if the war taught me anything, it was that you have to hold on to the things most precious to you. Nothing can beat love and friendship. I've managed to surround myself with people I love and I remember that we risked our lives and sanity for them, and it just seems worth it." Harry smiled at her. "I think you should sleep this off, get a nap and I'll bring Teddy round for tea?"

"Sounds great. Thankyou so much Harry." Hermione stood and pulled him into a hug.

"You are my best friend, Hermione. I'm here for anything." He pulled away from her hug and apparated out of the room.

Hermione strolled through the boxes scattered round her new apartment until she reached her bedroom. With a flick of her wand, the king size bed was perfectly made. She changed into some suitable bed clothes and crawled into bed. She set her alarm clock for 3 so she'd have enough time to make tea and unpack some boxes. In a few short minutes, she drifted into a sound sleep.

Harry arrived with a pop into the middle of the living room, where to his surprise the TV was off and there was no Teddy or Ginny to be found. After a small clatter sounded from upstairs, Harry wandered up until he was outside his Godson's room. When he entered he found a completely content Teddy playing with small dragon toys among other things, Teddy looked up with immense pleasure that Harry had just walked in.

"Harry! I'm glad your home now, I am bored." Teddy grinned as Harry sat down next to him. "Ginny told me to come to my room because her and Uncle Draco needed an adult talk." Teddy rolled his eyes and his hair turned red, an obvious sign he was jealous of Draco for taking Ginny's attention.

"Do you know where they are Teddy?" Harry asked him, while ruffling his hair until it went back to it's natural colour.

"They are outside, probably so I can't hear them." Teddy spoke in a matter of fact tone, his attention had returned to his dragons.

"I'm just going to speak to them, then we can watch any movie you want, and Aunt Hermione wants us to go round for tea." Harry said the last part with over excitement.

"Really? Can Uncle Draco come too?" Teddy squealed.

"We will have to see." Harry said with caution before leaving Teddy to his dragons.

Harry made his way through the house until he reached the back door. Through the window he could see his very pregnant wife and Draco occupying two patio chairs. Draco's hands were running through his hair as Ginny was speaking, he was probably in the same panic Hermione was in earlier.

"This was probably last on my list of expectations as something I would come home too." Harry joked as opened the back door, "I've often imagined if you two were left alone together, it would end in someone being hexed." He walked over and bent to give his wife a kiss.

"Draco and I are better friends than you think obviously." Ginny sarcastically remarked.

"Hermione has invited us for dinner tonight and Teddy wants you to come." Harry directed at Draco. At this Draco hid his face in his palms and groaned.

After noticing the confused look on her husbands face Ginny spoke up, "He thinks he embarrassed himself because he kissed her when he was drunk." She wiggled her eyebrows at Harry.

"I didn't just kiss her Ginny, I basically pounced on her face and I wasn't thinking straight." Draco groaned out from his hiding place. "She probably thinks I am an idiot."

"Considering she's been checking her phone every minute, all this morning, I'd say she doesn't think you are an idiot?" Harry grinned as Draco's head lifted from his hands, he looked hopefully at the pair of them.

"Should I call her then?" Draco asked, as if it wasn't made clear.

"Yes!" Ginny near screamed. "And ask her if you can come tonight." With that he stood up from his seat, and rushed into the house leaving behind the grinning couple. "Oh I do love it when a plan comes together." Ginny beamed to her husband.

Hermione was woken from her peaceful sleep, not by her alarm clock but by the buzzing of her phone. Her heart skipped a beat as she reached for it off the bed side table. Staring into the glass screen, she saw what she had hoped, it was him. Clearing her throat, she answered the phone.

"Hello?" She answered.

"It's Draco." His smooth voice replied, making her stomach flip.

"Yes, I was wondering if you would call." She tried to seem as collected as possible.

"I'm sorry about that, I was just a little embarrassed about what happened on our date." His voice broke out a tone of nerves that she hadn't been expecting.

"What do you mean?" Hermione was confused, he had nothing to be embarrassed about in her memory.

"I... uh." He swallowed as the lump in his throat grew larger, "I'm sorry about kissing you, especially against the door like that, I was a bit drunk."

"I actually quite enjoyed it" She blushed, "I wanted it to happen."

He breathed a silent sigh of relief, "I was going to ask you out again on a proper date but it seems Teddy wants me to come to your dinner tonight, so is that okay?" he asked nervously, he didn't want to push her, but Teddy was hard to say no too.

"Of course." Hermione tried to silence the small panic in her mind, she hadn't prepared anything to make it an impressive dinner, and she hadn't even unpacked anything yet. "Tell them to come round at 6."

"I'll see you then." He grinned like a Cheshire cat, and their brief phone call was over.

Hermione knew she would have to rush and use more magic than planned to get everything ready on time, so she might as well begin now.


	7. Dinner

**A/N - I am so happy people are liking this story, please follow/favourite/review because it keeps me writing! On another note, I'm from England so I apologise if I use any English terms that you don't understand, but I'll try and keep that to a minimum! Trying to get as many chapters out as I can before I return to college. Enjoy!**

Immediately after Draco had hung up, Hermione rang the Potter's house phone. After waiting for what felt like forever, Hermione was greeted by Teddy's small voice.

"Hello?" The little one questioned.

"Teddy? It's Aunt Hermione! Can you get Ginny for me?" Hermione asked in her kindest voice.

"Okay! I'll get her now. Thanks for letting Uncle Draco come for tea, he seems really happy about it!" Teddy giggled down the phone, Hermione's heart missed a beat.

"Teddy, what do you mean he seems happy about it?" Hermione realised, that Draco was at the Potter's when he rang, and she was calling Ginny to give her advice on him, while he was in the house. She felt stupid.

"Ginny, Aunt Hermione wants you on the phone!" Hermione heard Teddy's quiet voice.

"Hermione?" Ginny questioned, as she picked up the phone from her godson.

"I was going to tell you that he called but I just figured out that he's with you." Hermione laughed, "What should I cook?"

"I'm craving mac 'n' cheese, do that!" Ginny almost demanded. "He said 6, or do you want me to delay?"

"Don't delay, I'll be ready." Hermione smiled, "Just one last thing, what should I wear?"

"Like I've always said, you'll look hot in a bin bag. Just be casual because you'll be cooking!" Ginny said with a grin.

"I better start unpacking so I'll see you later Gin!" Hermione put down the phone after a farewell from her friend in return. She was now officially nervous but that wasn't going to stop her.

The next few hours were spent unpacking boxes and moving around furniture until she had found the perfect place for everything. Her sofa was now in the middle of the living room, facing away from the door, with a perfect sight of the small television set Hermione had placed in the corner. Behind the sofa, Hermione had created a little work area, a corner desk pushed up against the wall, however she had to shrink the desk slightly so it didn't block the door.

Moving to the kitchen, she had filled her cupboards with all her favourite foods and the pots, pans and utensils required to cook them. The fridge was packed full of pre cooked meals her mum had given her for when she started work. She put the dining table a comfortable distance from all the appliances, although her kitchen wasn't huge, she surrounded it with the five chairs she would need for tonights events.

The boxes of her clothes were already in her walk in closet, so with a flick of her wand, her clothes were arranged by colour around her. A last few vital swishes meant that, her underwear, lounge clothes and shoes were arranged in the remaining drawers and shoe rails. Before she left, Hermione picked out her outfit for that evening. Ginny said say casual so she picked a long, blue and white check shirt, with a thin belt at the waist, with black leggings and flats. She thought it would be best to keep her hair up so it wouldn't go frizzy from the heat of the cooker.

In her bedroom, she spent at least an hour putting her books out, and rearranging them. She finally decided with alphabetical order by the authors name, which seemed like the most logical choice. She put out little trinkets and pictures around her room, she liked to keep her bedroom minimal because it was more relaxing that way. By the time she had put everything perfectly in place, she only had an hour until the family and Draco would arrive.

Hermione took her time, if Ginny didn't like her food, she would know. She cooked the pasta and made her sauce from scratch and mixed them together in a deep pot before covering it with cheese and putting it in the oven. She now had the perfect amount of time to shower and get ready. A shower and a few glamour charms later, Hermione was ready to host her first diner party. She almost dropped the dish she was pulling out the oven and a pop sounded through her apartment, followed by the whoosh of the floo.

"Aunt 'Mione!" Teddy shouted, running towards her from Ginny's grasp, "I've missed you." Teddy looked said as she hoisted him up to her eye level and hugged him.

"I've only been gone since this morning Teddy." Hermione laughed at him. "You've had Harry, Ginny and Uncle Draco to keep you busy today, so why have you missed me?" At the mention of his name, Teddy's hair turned a perfect white, just as it had when they were in Diagon Alley with Draco.

"They all just have 'adult talk' but you are fun!" Teddy exclaimed as she put him back down. She turned from their short conversation by ruffling his hair and greeted her guests, who had sat down on the sofa.

"Dinners ready now, if everyone is hungry for it." Hermione spoke to the three adults. Draco looked away from his conversation with Harry to her, the most charming of smiles on his face.

Ginny ruined their moment by power walking to the dining table almost screaming, "Thank Merlin, I'm starving!" To which Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

Ginny cunningly sat Teddy and Harry next to her, so Hermione and Draco would have to sit next to each other. As she was setting down the plates and and main dish of food, she mouthed 'you sly woman' to Ginny, and got a wink in response.

Before she sat down, Hermione put a large jug of purple liquid and five glasses on the table, "I've only got juice, I'm sorry if anyone wanted something stronger." She said apologetically.

"This looks amazing Hermione, did you do it all yourself?" Draco asked her as she sat down.

"Yeah, you've got to do it all from scratch, it tastes better." She smiled back at him, her eyes lingering on his lips for just a second too long.

"I'm sorry to ruin your moment, but can we please start eating now! Little James is hungry!" Ginny interrupted them again, before putting a massive spoonful on her plate and digging in. The whole table followed her league and starting eating in a comfortable silence.

"Ginny?" Hermione questioned after a moment, "Little James?" Hermione knew this was what they had decided to call the baby, but she just had to make sure.

"Oh yes, we haven't really made a proper announcement, but we are going to call him James Sirius Potter. After Harry's dad and godfather obviously." Ginny beamed across the table. Teddy and Harry were beaming too. "I guess while we are here, we might as well ask them?" She now turned to Harry, which confused Draco and Hermione, Ginny never normally asked for her husband's permission.

"Yeah, guys, you are our best friends and well, we wanted to know whether you two would be James godparents?" Harry asked them. Hermione was almost crying and Draco looked the same.

Hermione burst out of her seat and went to hug her two friends, "Of course I will!" She exclaimed as a happy tear rolled down her cheek, "Thankyou for picking me!" She was bursting with happiness as she let go of them. Attention now shift to Draco, who had remained glued to his seat in shock since they asked.

"What about you?" Harry questioned hopefully, trying to read Draco's blank exterior.

"I'd be honoured." Draco broke into a smile, "If that is what you want, then of course. I've learn not to disagree with Ginny." He joked to the group. The group toasted to baby James and finished their meals in glee with bubbling conversation. Draco and Harry were talking about the upcoming Quidditch tournament, where all wizarding departments head out against each other, they had started a friendly rivalry due to them both being the seekers of their respective teams.

In a bid to get away from Hermione and Ginny's pregnancy talk, Teddy climbed over Ginny and the table to Harry's lap. In his attempt, he knocked over the tall jug of juice directly onto Draco, soaking his jumper and trousers right through.

"Merlin, that's cold!" Draco exclaimed as he shot up from his seat.

"Ginny clean this up and I'll get Draco sorted out?" Hermione reacted immediately, she saw Ginny wink at her as she pulled Draco into her bedroom.

"It's fine Hermione, I can just scourgify it!" He laughed at her muggle reaction, he would have thought she wasn't a witch at all if he hadn't known her.

"Scourgify isn't as good as a washing machine." She darted back at him at she looked around her closet. He just sighed and sat himself down on the edge of her bed.

"If you told me a few years ago, I'd be in your bedroom now, I would have declared you insane." He mumbled mostly to himself, but she had managed to hear him. He was scanning the room, noting every detail for if he every managed to come here again.

"I would have done the same, to be honest." She smiled as she returned with some grey jogging bottoms and a black t-shirt.

"May I ask you why you have a stash of men's clothing in your closet, is there something I should know?" He grinned at her as she passed him the clothes.

"I actually bought the joggers for myself, but I have no idea where the top came from." She thought the last part of her sentence aloud, trying to figure out where it had come from.

"It's comforting to know I could be wearing a former lover's t-shirt of the girl I'm dating." He joked back.

"How do know it's a former lover?" She raised her eyebrows, and as he took in her remark, he mirrored her actions. "I'm just joking, I wouldn't have given it to you if I thought it was that." She finished. They laughed together as he stood up from his sitting position and walked over to her.

"Thanks Hermione, for the clothes." He gazed into her eyes and brushed his fingers against hers before he leaned in and kissed her. It was just like the first one they had shared, and then it grew deeper. Her hands found his neck as their bodies pressed together, his hands firmly on her hips. They broke from the kiss at the sound of Ginny having a stern word with Teddy, but they were still pressed against each other.

"I'll just put these on." He pecked her on the lips before stepping towards the bathroom and pushing the door shut. Hermione did a small happy dance before walking into the kitchen to see what was happening. She was met with a tearful Teddy and a perfectly clean kitchen.

"Now Teddy, what do you have to say?" Ginny said as soon as Hermione walked into the room.

"I'm sorry for climbing on your table and wasting your juice." Teddy sheepishly looked at her, she knew he didn't really do anything wrong.

"It's okay Teddy, Ginny can I just talk to you in private?" Hermione turned to her friend and pulled her into the living room. Hermione just stared at her for a second grinning from ear to ear.

"You didn't just have a quickie in your room, did you?" Ginny raised her eyebrows at her and winked.

"Mrs Potter, you are completely unromantic! Of course not!" Hermione started to whisper as she could hear Teddy apologising to Draco through the doorway. "I've got it bad Gin, just thank you for setting us up."

"It's what friends are for." Ginny smirked back at her, and sauntered off into the other room. After this, the Potter's had decided to leave and Draco had agreed to stay for another hour before he had to leave to get ready for his night shift.

If Hermione thought Draco looked good in his usual formal wear, he mind was mush at him in casual clothes. His athletic frame became much more obvious and the t-shirt material clung to his muscular shoulders and built arms. His dark mark had disappeared, but Hermione thought he would use a concealment charm like she did.

They spend an hour on the sofa, kissing every so often while watching Hermione's favourite films 'Never Been Kissed'. Draco realised it was almost time for him to leave, although he didn't want to. Hermione's head was resting on his shoulder, so he moved to catch her attention.

"I'd better be going now." He smiled down at her, "Thankyou for tonight, it's been better than I thought it would be."

"It's been my pleasure." Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat preparing for her next question, "Am I going to be seeing you again or?" Hermione chewed on he bottom lip, and looked up at him.

"I was just going to ask if you are free Friday, I think I should cook you a dinner in return." Draco felt a twitch below his belt at the face she was pulling, and the thought that her bedroom was only feet away. "Just promise me one thing?"

"What would that be?" She questioned quickly.

"Stop biting your lip." He answered, and her expression grew confused, "Biting your lip at me is certainly testing the level of self restraint I have. I don't want to rush things and that face isn't helping me." He finished.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise." Hermione purposely bit her lip to tease him. Before she could gather a second thought, his lips were against hers in a passionate and wanting kiss. He flipped her over so he was on top of her, and it drove Hermione crazy. He nipped and sucked at her lips, and she returned the gestures. She wanted more as he pulled away, looking at her dead in the eye.

"You aren't the only one who can be a tease." His signature smirk roamed his face as he sat up, leaving a bewildered Hermione laying on the sofa. "Now some of us actually go to work so I'll have to get going." He pulled Hermione up with him, and small kiss, "I'll be here at 6 on Friday to bring you to mine."

"I'll see you then." She had regained her composure and gave him a small peck before he apparated out of sight.

She sighed and smiled wider than ever before, she didn't know whether she wanted to scream or laugh or cry because she had never felt quite like this. She didn't know who to tell or what to do. She felt like she was going to burst and she hadn't felt more alive in the past 4 years.


End file.
